"SLYTHERIN! SLYTHERIN! SLYTHERIN!"

"Come on, it won't be that bad" Pansy says, Theodore's jaw falls open "what do you mean it won't be that bad!? It will be terrible!" I laugh, grabbing his wrist "pain only lasts for a bit, plus imagine how cool it would be to have a tattoo?" I smirk, he rolls his eyes sitting down, "were ready, sir" Pansy says, the tattoo artist walks back into the room sighing deeply "shouldn't you be getting ready for the tournament, y/n?" Theodore asks, eyebrow raised as his eyes dart to me and to the artist, his eyes wide and face pale

"I have 3 hours before the first task" I say, tossing him a bottle of water "how did you even get back into the tournament? I thought you were injured" Pansy says, I take in a deep breath thinking of something to say "well, Dumbledore realized I was in perfect condition, so he allowed me to rejoin the tournament" I swallow, she hums as she nods.

I look back at Theodore and then at her, feeling guilty for not telling my friends. Everyone except Mattheo doesn't know about this deal I made with Dumbledore and I'm hoping to keep it that way, for now at least. Mattheo doesn't even know I've rejoined the tournament and I'm hoping he doesn't find out.

"Are you ready?" the tattoo artist asks Theodore, he nods several times "hey guys" Blaise says, walking into the booth with Enzo and Regulus by his side, "hey" I say, grabbing a box of fries from him, "where's Draco?" Pansy asks, grabbing a fry from my box "he's walking around, he says he wants to see what these muggles sell" the tattoo artist looks at Regulus weirdly then back at Theo's arm, "he looks like he's shitting himself" Regulus laughs, sitting next to Enzo, Blaise sitting next to Pansy and me next to Theodore, who is currently squeezing my hand and sharing Regulus a dirty look.

"So is he..." I trace off, Regulus clears his throat looking at his feet "he uh-" Blaise cuts himself off, biting his bottom lip "he didn't want to come, he had- um, plans" Enzo scratches the back of his neck, his eyes squinting, I scrunch my nose cringing at their responses "can you guys be less weird about it? were still-were still friends" I clear my throat, "I'll be sure to let him know that" Draco walks in, sitting next to me "what! no!" he rolls his eyes

"It's too awkward and I miss us hanging out all the time, if you guys just cleared things than maybe it would be less awkward for us all" Draco says, I sigh "fine" he smirks, "good, because if you said no I would've told him you're in love with him still and you were begging us to talk to him about you and blah blah blah other girly things, about how you hate your life now that you're not with him" my eyes burn with shock in rage, my face red and mouth open, I raise my hand smacking him harshly on the back of his head "hey!" he cries, rubbing his head, everyone laughs and begins talking about other things.

My mind dozes off into a quieter place, a place where I'm just alone, near mountains, green trees, a blue sky with no sun, and a lake reflecting the clouds and the bright sky, everything blue, blue birds, blue butterflies, blue water and sky. I want to be here forever, I want to be here alone

𝘸̶𝘪̶𝘵̶𝘩̶ 𝘩̶𝘪̶𝘮̶

* * *

"Oh gosh" I mumble, looking at the time. The tournament is in exactly twenty minutes from now and I'm a nervous mess, "you don't look too well" Enzo says, cringing slightly. "Yeah, no shit!" he laughs "it'll be fine, you'll be fine. Here take some chocolate" he hands me a mars bar; I grab it unwrapping it then biting a piece off. "Feel better?" I nod "kind of" my muffled voice says, I swallow the chocolate "how do you always know how to calm me down." I ask, he smirks "well since it is quite distressing seeing you have a panic attack or anxiety attack every minute of every day, me, Blaise and Theo prepared ourselves in case we were ever caught in the situation of being stuck with you while you're going nuts." I scoff, rolling my eyes. "Thankyou" I say quietly. "What was that?" I groan "was that y/n saying thank you? thought I'd never see this day come" I laugh, throwing a pillow at him.

He smiles, catching it. "Now please fix your hair, you look like you got electrocuted" my jaw falls open, rushing to my mirror to see my hair everywhere. I sigh heavily, grabbing a hair tie and putting it into a low tight bun, which I in fact will be taking out during the task.

"Better?" I ask, "perfect" he says, "now tell me what happened with you and Mattheo, I am dying to know. We barely get to talk about anything anymore" I sigh, my eyebrows going up as I realize I haven't made any time to hang out with my best friends, causing me to feel very, very guilty.

'I'm sorry Enzo, I know I barely make time to hang out with you, it's my fault I always allow myself to get distracted by other things." he smirks "other things meaning Mattheo?" I groan, putting my face into my pillow "so?" he asks, "yes!" my muffled voice screams

"What happened between you two, anyways." I sit up, holding my pinky out "swear you won't tell anyone, not even your teddy bear Mr. cuddles" his jaw falls open "I don't have Mr. cuddles anymore" I roll my eyes, "I saw you cuddling it last night" he frowns, wrapping his pinky into mine "I swear" I breathe in deeply

"The reason I'm allowed to rejoin this tournament is because I'm a spy for Dumbledore, I'm in his little "team" called "the order of phoenix" his eyes go wide "I thought that was a myth" he whispers, I shake my head "I did too, but anyways, I'm on this "mission" because Voldemort, as you know, is planning on popping in and saying hello to Harry, I'm there to spy on him and see what his next moves are, I am to report back to Dumbledore about death eater meetings" Enzo's shocked face nods "but how are you apart of the order of phoenix and death eaters at the same time, won't you-know-who, find out" I nod "yes of course, this is a risky decision, but I'm willing to take it, I'm a part of the death eaters but I spy on them for the order of phoenix, get it?" he nods "but what does this have to do with Mattheo, he wouldn't care, he would help you"

I look down "I didn't want him to get hurt, Enzo. If Voldemort finds out I'm working against him with his son, he'll not only kill me, but he'll kill Mattheo. It's dangerous for him, I'm doing this so Voldemort thinks I don't have feelings for Mattheo so if he does ever find out, he won't hurt Mattheo, all I have to do is let him know I don't care for Mattheo anymore nor love him"

Enzo leans back on the bed frame, giving me an uncertain look "what?" I ask, "are you sure you don't care for him nor love him anymore?" his eyebrows arches, "n-no, I don't." he kisses his teeth "then why would you be doing all of this for?" I roll my eyes "because I- I... oh fuck off Enzo, I still care and love him okay! but Voldemort won't know that." he inhales a long deep breath "y/n you're risking a lot, have you considered in thinking about what you're doing?" his eyebrows furrow.

"I know Enzo, but I can take him down-," I swallow "-I mean- I can really stop Voldemort, for once I don't have to sit back and watch him destroy everything, this could help everyone, it could help you, Mattheo, Pansy, Theodore, Blaise, Regulus, Draco, his mum, the- the school, the whole wizarding world" he leans in forward

"But what about you? who will help you?"

Deja vu.

* * *

Me rejoining the tournament makes things very difficult for everyone, especially myself, you see. They've already done the first task, dragons, they've all gotten the eggs. But I have not. So here I am, in the changing room. Preparing to fight a dragon to get an egg, the second task is in less than two days giving me barely anytime to prepare.

"Y/n?" someone whispers, I look to my right to see Pansy peeking through the blinds, I jump up, hugging her tightly. She cups my face "you'll do wonderful, okay? just don't stress it" her face is pale, her eye bags are deeper than mine, and she looks more dehydrated than Draco does.

"I'm not the one stressing" my laugh doesn't last long, my eyes soften slowly "I'll be okay, Pans. Please don't worry, you're killing yourself here" she smiles a sad smile that makes me want to rip my skin off, "what's going on, what's happening?" I ask, she shakes her head "you have to focus on this, my worries shall not concern you." oh but she doesn't know how much it concerns me that I don't know her worries, that I've been so blind to see what is going on with my best friend, I'm too busy being concerned with my worries and Mattheo's that I didn't even notice Pansy was going through something, I'm so stupid, so stupid.

She hugs me again, wiping away tears I didn't know I cried. "Mattheo is out there, he's watching" Pansy says, I swallow, looking down "you'll tell me everything after" she says, I guess she isn't the only one keeping secrets, I, too, haven't been telling Pansy everything.

Dumbledore rushes in, his eyes darting to Pansy. "Ms. Parkinson, what are you doing here?" he questions, she scratches the back of her neck, "I just came to give her good luck" he nods, she looks at me smiling gently as she mouths "good luck" I smile, looking back at Dumbledore.

He walks to me, "I would help you, Ms. Slytherin, but it is in the rules that I, headmaster in no circumstances shall provide information nor help a Triwizard champion, and as you are doing this for the benefit for the order of phoenix, you are still competing in it, so it does not mean I can help you; it would be against the rules-" I cut him off "it's okay sir, I understand" he smiles, three men walk in, Cornelius Fudge, Mad eye and Bartemius Crouch Sr. My heart starts beating harder in my chest, realizing how real this is, I am going to be going against a dragon, a dragon.

Bartemius rushes to me with a brown bag in his hand, "it is only fair" he says to Dumbledore, I look back at him and Bartemius, "well go on, grab one." Mad eye says, I quickly shuffle threw the bag, wincing at something sharp that bit me, grabbing a different one than that, slowly I pull out a tiny looking white dragon, it almost looks ethereal, it scales shiny and glittery in the light, it's white eyes so bright that you would think they were bleached. "Ah, the Antipodean Opaleye, beautiful these creatures, on the outside at least." my eyes widen suddenly filling with fear as my trembling hand holds the dragon.

* * *

It's been about ten minutes since I picked out my dragon, I've been doing an interview with Rita Skeeter, who constantly questioned me about how it felt dating Mattheo Riddle, aka the Dark Lord's son. I, of course didn't answer her silly inappropriate questions.

A loud boom causes me to jump out of my skin, the man looks at me, eyes wide "well go on, will Ya" I stand up, nodding, yeah, yeah, I say, right, sorry, I say. He only rolls his eyes. I walk out of the tent slowly, looking around for the dragon that was not there, my eyes dart around the crowd, looking at all the peering eyes watching me carefully and my every movement, I catch a glimpse of Mattheo who had his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes widen when he sees me looking back at him. I look down, face flushed.

"WATCH OUT!" Fred Weasley yells, everyone starts screaming, I spin around seeing the dragon, bigger than the last time I saw her. I begin running, her hot flames burning the rock in front of me which I'm hiding behind, her loud roaring making my heartbeat at a faster rate, I peak a look at her, watching as she burns the air with her fire.

"Fuck" I mumble, my eyes search the area for an egg, catching a glimpse of a white shiny one underneath her, "seriously." I whisper, holding my wand tighter, I shut my eyes tightly "okay, okay, okay, I can do this, I can do this, it's just a dragon" I say, preparing myself to do something very, very stupid. My eyes flash open.

The once quiet crowd begins to cheer as I run towards the dragon, dodging her fire, "fuck you" I say, I guess she didn't like that. I bite back a scream as fire grazes the side of my body, barley touching me but enough to scare the shit out of me, the crowd gasps. I look at the egg and at the dragon.

I start running, pulling my wand out and mumbling a spell. The egg flies to me, crashing into my arms, causing me to lose my breath for a second. She spots me, her eyes angry with fire and hunger, my eyes wide with fear and panic, I start to run the opposite direction from her, the flames from her mouth almost touching me. I trip making me drop the egg, it rolls towards her.

"Oh, fucking hell" I jump up not bothering to dust off the dirt on my face nor acknowledge the fact I have a really deep cut on my cheek that I can't seem to feel, she roars again, I have an idea. Adrenaline courses through my veins giving me the energy and confidence to run towards her, the crowd screaming and cheering loudly, as she opens her mouth in attempt to burn me, I yell a spell, causing me to fly up, I gasp as she flies up as well. Spinning? why am I spinning.

Shit, I'm on her, and she is flying at a rapid speed, I hold tight on to her scales, dragons, dragons, I remember reading about them, she flies over the castles, dragons are afraid, that's why they use their fire, If I can convince her I don't want to hurt her than maybe it will make it easier for me.

She flies to the bridge, dropping me on it, I fall harshly, rolling slightly as the concreate scrapes my skin making me wince, the crowd watches, gasping. I slowly get up, walking backwards, I watch her carefully, she just looks at me as she flaps her wings in the wind to keep her up. I take a step forward, then slowly, I hold my hand out to her, she watches me, after a minute she flies towards me, allowing me to touch her nose. The crowd goes silent as I pet her slowly, "I'm not going to hurt you" I whisper, at a very slow speed I pull out a bag of seaweed from my pocket, I brought it for caution. I read that dragons like seaweed. I pull it out of the bag and put it on the palm of my hand, holding it out to her, she brings her mouth close to my hand, I bite my tongue praying she doesn't burn me.

Then, she eats it from my hand, a loud roar escapes from her mouth making me take step back a little, she flies under the bridge, looking up, almost as if telling me to jump on. My chest is heaving, and my hands are shaking, should I do this, I shouldn't do this. Then, I jump. The wind pushes me down, flowing through my clothes making an annoying fluttering sound, I shut my eyes, shit, I'm falling, and nothing is catching me.

This. This is where I die isn't it? this is how I die? I open my eyes watching as she flies down, then I land on her making my heart fall to my stomach. She flies further down, going to the nearest end of the mountains, the fog getting more intensifying and the darkness slowly consuming us in its dread as we reach the nearest end, I laugh loudly, and then, she flies forward, taking a minute or two to prepare herself, like a plane that drives through the field then flies up at its highest speed, her feet slicing through the lakes' water, I look down at my reflection, smiling widely, then, at a very, very fast speed she flies up. The light from the sky slowly returning back into my vision.

I scream a laugh, my smile wide as I look at the crowd that was once quiet, cheering loudly, clapping and screaming out of relief and joy when they hear my laugh, we fly in the clouds. I take a minute to praise this moment as I look down. The world is so small from up here. Nothing matters in the sky. It's almost relieving, I wish I could stay here forever, that I could build a castle so tall that it's able to reach the clouds, but I can't. I have somewhere to be and something to finish. Maybe after all of this, after Voldemort is defeated, I could try to find this dragon again, and live with her forever in my little fantasy of a world, maybe I could build a castle and live with her in there forever. "You know, I'm going to name you snow" I say, she roars making me laugh "if you ever need me snow, you will know where to find me" she closes her eyes, the wind pushing the clouds past her skin making her look magical.

After a moment, I bend down to her ear, "I need the egg" I yell, my voice muffling in the wind, but she somehow still hears me. She roars, a smile from her mouth appearing as she flies down, I hold tightly to her scales. My hair dancing with the wind like the ocean waves when it thunderstorms, harsh and defined, beautiful and yet scary in a way. She flies near the ground, in a swift moment, I jump off and she flies off into the sky, I watch as she flies away, smiling while doing so. I'll miss her. My eyes search the area for the egg, I spot it in front of me, quickly grabbing it.

The crowd claps, laughing and screaming. I smile widely as everyone cheers for me, "SLYTHERIN! SLYTHERIN! SLYTHERIN!"

* * *